IN a world where more and more people are being diagnosed with food intolerances and where few restaurants seem to know how to cater for the various conditions, eating out can be a nightmare.

But one Rickmansworth pub dished out a special course of awareness last Sunday, to heighten the profile of gluten intolerance and kick off Coeliac Awareness Week .

The Rose and Crown, in Woodcock Hill, aimed to prove that with a love of good food, quality ingredients and a bit of creativity you can eat well and stay healthy whatever your dietary needs, and to raise awareness about the condition which affects around 250,000 people in the UK alone.

The pub hosted a day where every meal was entirely gluten-free, an idea suggested by regular customer and coeliac sufferer, Anne Agapiou.

Head chef Tim Shanks said: "Anne has been in several times and I have chatted to her because she needs to know exactly what is in the food and how it is cooked, otherwise she could be very ill.

"The idea grew from there really and I thought it would be a great idea, and a challenge, to have a whole day where only gluten-free food was served.

"As it turned out, many of our regular customers didn't even realise the difference - the whole day was an absolute success and I am sure we will try it again."

More than 100 people turned out to eat at the Rose and Crown on Sunday, including Anne and a group of friends.

She said: " I was there in the evening with a party of six, including a blind lady, Daisy Pritchard, and her guide dog, Emily.

"We all managed to put away three courses each and thoroughly enjoyed the luxury of being able to choose any dish on the menu without lengthy questioning about what it contained."

The event was advertised on the National Coeliac website and people affected by the disease travelled especially to sample a totally gluten-free menu.

For more information on Coeliac Awareness Week see www.coeliac.co.uk .